Many people ask 'what's the smallest and largest woodworking planes' that I have in stock.

Normally, Bullnose planes such as the Stanley and Record no 75's are the smallest, and Stanley or record no 8's are the largest.

Anything outside of those sizes are much more specialist, and by that categorization, only made for very specific purposes and/or infrequently used, thereby making them relatively rare to encounter.

As it happened for this blog, I dug out a very large (and very, very heavy), example of a cast iron, Cooper's plane complete with support legs.

It is 69 inches long x 5 inches wide. The singlecutting iron is 3 inches wide and made in Sheffield by J D Fearns. The screw cap is made of bronze or brass.

The plane was manufactured in Burton on Trent, which is one of England's most famous Brewery towns, by a firm called Briggs.

The price is £150 ex my shop, but please do not ask for shipping as the weight precludes wrapping and handling it easiliy. It's got to be COLLECTION ONLY !!

The smallest plane in the shop, is minute, made of  Brass, just over 1/4 inch wide x 3/4 inch long with flat sole.

It is a Luthier or Violin makers plane, made by Herdim in Germany.

I show it in one of the photos sitting on top of the Cooper's plane, for comparison.

Have a look at the photographs and make your own judgement!

Richard Groves and Sons.

One of the most famous names in Sheffield sawmaking.

The alleged date that the business was established (but not backed up by any documentary proof),is 1770.

That date is highly likely, as Richard Groves was born around 1745.

Groves saws form part of my own toolkit, and have been the back-bone for my unplugged dimensioning, of many types of wood, whilst making furniture.

Thought it might interest a few folks that follow my page, as well as other saw users/collectors.

P.S. these are NOT for sale.

They have been in hibernation for a while!

My Groves’ set comprises of the following:-

1st       26" Ripsaw with teeth graduated from 3 to 4 1/2 tpi.

2nd      24" Crosscut with 7 tpi.

3rd       14" Tenon saw with 12 tpi. xcut filed

4th       10" Dovetail saw 16 tpi rip filed

5th        12" Compass saw 10 tpi rip filed

All have been used consistently over the years, and formed the basis of my un-plugged, wood cutting, tool kit!!